Education Minister Stark-Watzinger has to answer questions publicly about the funding scandal – in the Education Committee and during the government questioning in the Bundestag. It could get pretty unpleasant.
Arne Semsrott from the “FragDenStaat” initiative sees things looking bleak for Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. “I don’t think that knowing about these events can keep the minister in office. Because it’s clear that the ministry has gone down this very controversial path. And the minister hasn’t stopped it,” says Semsrott.
“FragDenStaat” is a portal for freedom of information; Arne Semsrott had already requested all communication relating to the funding scandal on May 17, 2024 under the Freedom of Information Act (IFG). He has had it since Monday.
It’s about Academic freedom
As a reminder of what this is actually about: After a pro-Palestinian protest camp was cleared by the police at the Free University of Berlin in early May, teachers criticized this action in an open letter. The ministry then wanted to investigate who had signed the letter and who had received funding from the ministry.
The request from “FragDenStaat” now shows that this list was commissioned on May 10, when the minister was present at the morning briefing – two days after Stark-Watzinger had taken a stand against the signatories of the open letter in the Bild newspaper. State Secretary Döring was not involved; she commissioned – the Ministry of Education has not informed the ARD Capital Studio confirmed in response to a written request – a legal review was only carried out by telephone on 13 May.
Döring quickly clarified – and the ministry has also confirmed this – that this did not mean an examination of funding law. From the outside, it now seems somewhat astonishing that after a misunderstanding that was quickly corrected, the relationship of trust should have been so damaged that the state secretary had to be fired. Or is she a “pawn sacrifice” after all, as Karin Prien, Education Minister from Schleswig-Holstein, quickly suspected on Platform X?
Distrust of Stark-Watzinger
Politicians and scientists are certainly suspicious. Green Party leader Ricarda Lang believes that this affair has “caused a major loss of trust between science and politics. This trust must be rebuilt, and I see this as the minister’s task.”
And Walter Rosenthal from the traditionally reserved German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) also says: “The atmosphere between science and Minister Stark-Watzinger is currently tense. We urgently need direct talks, we need to talk more with each other than about each other in order to build new trust. It is planned that such talks will take place soon.”
Stark-Watzinger’s first task is to provide answers: Today she has to face uncomfortable questions at two public appearances. First in the Bundestag Committee for Education and Research. Education politician Nicole Gohlke from the Left Party says: “If the minister is not able to apologize for the way she treated teachers who were discredited, then she cannot be held back.”
Opposition wants answers
The opposition has a clear expectation: Thomas Jarzombek (CDU) is the education policy spokesman for the Union faction. For him, many questions remain unanswered in the funding scandal, such as: Was Sabine Döring innocent after all? Who in the ministry bore what responsibility in the funding scandal, and what role does the minister play in this? The FDP minister is to provide answers in the committee “in order to understand what has actually happened,” said Jarzombek in an interview with tagesschau.deAnd another aspect that is important to him: “We also want to know what happens next.”
Because: The vacant position of the outgoing State Secretary Döring must be filled. She was considered the key negotiating partner in the Conference of Education Ministers with the states. Tough negotiations are ahead with these, for example on the Digital Pact School 2.0. “That is why a proper structure must be restored in the ministry as quickly as possible,” demands Jarzombek. “There is now a risk that the students will have to return to chalk and blackboard.”
Pressure on the minister is high
After the Education Committee, Stark-Watzinger will have to answer questions from the entire Bundestag during a government questioning session. In previous questionings of the minister, the interest of the MPs was limited. But the situation has changed: Stark-Watzinger must expect probing questions and critical follow-up on the subsidy affair. Too many aspects are still open. Whether the Education Minister answers the questions confidently and how calmly she appears: her future could depend on this. The pressure on Stark-Watzinger is high.
In the meantime, she has launched a kind of offensive. In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung she is considering introducing an anti-Semitism clause in scientific funding applications; the debate about this should be held in science, because anti-Semitism should never be funded with taxpayers’ money.